Old Wounds & New Alike
by moonswirl
Summary: Gleekathon, day 963b: A day of fun at the pool for Sam and Rachel and little Nell, and a mistake rectified for Shelby and Beth with Quinn and Puck. - Sam and Nell plus Samchel series AND Shelby and Beth series.


_Started my daily ficlets to make the hiatus pass, then decided to keep going with a 2nd cycle, and then a 3rd, 4th, etc through 45th cycle. Now cycle 46!_

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_**INTRODUCING "CHEAT SHEET" - **If you want to know ahead of time when a certain series will be updated next, just reassemble the link below and check out the list, save it, print it, bookmark it, whatever you need!  
Go to: gleekathon [dot] tumblr [dot] com [slash] cheatsheet_

_** UPDATED WITH CYCLE 45 CHEAT SHEET ** Check it out to find out about **shift days**! (cycle 46 cheat sheet will be up later)_

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_**This is a shift day [see above].** There was another upload this morning: You'll Find Wonder, chapter 30._

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**"Old Wounds & New Alike"  
Sam & Nell, Sam/Rachel - Shelby & Beth, Quinn/Puck  
- Okay so quick explanation, this was going to be another crossover, following in  
'The Ties That Bind', but when I was planning the cycle I forgot that part, and I set out  
plots for both series individually... So I'm just giving them both to you at once!  
Two series for the price of one ;) -  
Sam & Nell series - Shelby & Beth series  
_(All series now listed under the communities tab in my profile)_  
**

After everything that had happened, with the fall, and the aftermath, he'd needed time to reclaim the secure feeling he used to have in his role as Nell's father who could and would keep her safe. As he had regained that place for himself, he had decided it was time for them to do something they hadn't done in a while. The three of them, him and Nell and Rachel, would go to the pool. Now it was Rachel's turn to be concerned, but Sam promised her that Nell could surprise her… and she loved the water.

Rachel showed up at his house and he could see the strings of the top under her shirt, and he'd be lying if he said this idea of his was without its perks. "Ready to go?" she asked, and he led her in to find Nell crawling about the living room, in the bathing suit he'd put her in. "I remember that," she smiled, moving to pick her up. The suit had been one of the pieces of clothing they had bought her on a recent trip to the mall. "You're ready to go, aren't you?" she asked, getting a good load of smiles for it.

They were off to the pool and they got there to find it not too crowded, which was just as well. Sam took Nell into the water, and for some time Rachel watched as he took the delighted little blonde around the water, safe in his arms as he swam back. Even then she could see Nell's feet kicking about like she knew what she was meant to do.

"Impressive," Rachel grinned as they came back to her.

"She loves the water," he shrugged, smirking, while Nell sputtered and sneezed.

"Oh, look at you," Rachel reached out to brush at her face. "You're okay, you are," she told her. "Want to come see me?" she held out her hands, and as she reached out, Sam handed her over. Nell tended to get excitable when Rachel held her, so in this case she was extra careful, not wanting to drop her.

"She can float, you know? Not for too long, but she can do it," Sam told her.

"I'd rather not risk it," Rachel smiled.

"No, I know," he agreed.

"When I was little, all I ever wanted, for like a year or something, was to be like Esther Williams…" she smiled to herself, especially at the clueless look on Sam's face. "I was going to be in my own aquamusical," she told him, swimming about with Nell in her arms.

"I can see that," Sam smiled back.

"Well it didn't pan out," she went on with a chuckle. "But that's okay. I found other ways of moving forward… sort of," she shrugged. "Still here, aren't I?"

"For now," Sam told her and she beamed, then looked to Nell, seeing she was kicking her feet about. "She wants to dive."

"What?" Rachel asked, startled.

"Not dive dive, just to dunk under for like a second or two and come back up. She's done it before."

"Are you sure?"

"Yeah, I trust you," he looked to her, and she looked to Nell.

"You're going to be trouble," she told the blonde, who just kept kicking about.

"See you under?" Sam dared. Rachel grasped on to Nell, not wanting to drop her. It felt good to know Sam had recovered from the events after the fall and, maybe for that, she nodded: all clear. He disappeared under the surface, and she made a big show of letting Nell see her hold her breath, not sure what to expect, before they dunked as well.

They stayed there for all of two or three seconds, before resurfacing, and while she was back to sputtering, Nell looked downright excited. If her face could speak, it would sad 'again, again!'

"You liked that, didn't you?" Rachel laughed. "Maybe you're part fish."

"Summer…" Sam spoke up, and Rachel looked to him. "She's a swimmer," he revealed, and she could see he would rather not bring her up. "She was going to go to college on a scholarship for that, but she had to sit out over a year, with the pregnancy and all that. They basically said her chances were shot now…"

"Sorry…" Rachel couldn't help but say. He didn't want to get into it, she could tell, so she didn't push any further. "Well come on, little mermaid, let's go for a ride," she looked to Nell, taking over in the back swim as Sam had done before today was about having fun, and they would. "Bet your dad can't catch us," she teased, and he laughed, taking off swimming after them, though not so fast that he would pass them. "We're so winning this race."

"Don't count me out," Sam called after her, and Rachel smirked.

"I never do."

xx

Judy had been preparing dinner with Quinn's help. It was something they did, almost every day at times, and it gave them both something to hang on to, even as they had to ride the ups and downs of their lives, with all that had been happening since Quinn had moved back home, after Judy had kicked Russell out and gotten her daughter back. When the doorbell rang, she went, leaving Quinn to continue.

She didn't realize who the woman was at first, but… the moment she saw the little blonde girl in her arms, she knew… This was her granddaughter, which made her…

"Mrs. Fabray?" Shelby asked, and Judy nodded. "I think you know who I am?" Again, she got a nod. "Is Quinn here?"

She was chopping carrots, following the rhythm of the knife slicing along, when she looked up, expecting to see her mother, and found the dark haired woman instead. "Shelby? What are you d… Beth, is she okay?" she felt her heart ram out for a moment.

"She's fine," Shelby quickly promised. "She's with your mother." Quinn blinked at the awkward notion of her mother finally getting to hold Beth. Can we talk?"

"About what?" Quinn asked, her nerves flaring at the memory of their last encounter, where Shelby had extended an offer to let her and Puck get to see Beth from time to time… but only with the condition that she could change her mind at any time. Quinn had told her simply, she couldn't put herself through that, and neither could Puck. That had been left there, though Shelby held up her promise of pictures and videos.

"Look, after we spoke, when you and the others came to my house, I knew I'd made a mistake. I shouldn't have put it on you that way, I just… panicked. It all sort of happened fast and after it was done I realized just what it was I was asking you to do." Quinn looked at her, waiting for her to go on, to say what she seemed to be aiming to say, before she could let herself reply. "I meant what I said, about wanting you and Puck in Beth's life, and if I made you think I don't trust you, I'm sorry. I do trust you, and I do want you in her life, so… we can work something out, not like visiting hours or anything, but every once in a while, I can drop her off with you, or you can come get her, and… you guys can spend the day together. Is that… Would that work for you?" Quinn looked on the verge of tears, cautious.

"You… you won't change your mind?"

"You'd have to give me a really big reason to, but I don't think you will," she smiled, then, "I'm going to be out shopping for some things for the wedding. I'll leave her here if you can get her back to the house by seven or eight?" Shelby asked, and Quinn breathed deep. "How does that sound?"

The moment Shelby had handed her the baby girl, Judy couldn't help but to smile, and then to cry. Beth would look at her at first, curious, looking at the unfamiliar face. After just a minute or so, she would gift the woman with her first glimpse of a smile. That had been the thing to bring the tears, to see that face and how it looked so much like her daughter's, when she was that age…

She looked up again at the sound of the door, just as Quinn came into the living room. "Where's…"

"She went shopping," Quinn smiled, seeing the way Beth's eyes had turned to her. She came over and picked her up from her mother's arms. "Do you mind if I go, the dinner…"

"I'll take care of it," Judy promised her, smiling.

X

He'd gotten a text from her, asking that he meet her at the park. He wasn't sure what it was about, but the vagueness made him promise he'd be there. He didn't know what he'd find, or… where to find her exactly once he got there, she…

He turned, and there they were, both of them, sitting under a tree… Quinn and Beth. He blinked, confused, but he approached.

"You didn't kidnap her, did you?"

"No, but if I did, please, continue speaking like that, in a park," she joked. He sat at her side, taking Beth's hand. "Shelby left her with me for the day."

"She did?" he just smiled.

"She said she'd made a mistake, that she's okay with us being in Beth's life, no strings, no conditions."

"Can I?" he indicated Beth, and Quinn handed her over. "Hey… remember me?" he bowed his head and she squealed, her hand shooting out to touch the mohawk. "Yeah, that's right," he grinned. He looked back to Quinn, and she gave a tentative smile.

"Do you really think we can?"

"More than anything," he nodded. "Now we've got her for the day, so… What do you think we should do? What do you want to do?" he asked. She looked to him, to their girl, and she didn't know if Shelby could ever know the blessing she had given them. This would be a good day.

THE END

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******A/N: This is a one-shot ficlet, which means that signing up for story alert will not bring you any alerts.  
****In the event of a sequel, the story will be separate from this one. And as chapter stories go, they are  
************always clearly indicated as such [ex: "Days 204-210" in the summary] Thank you!**


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